It can be argued that good digital integration is vital for brands that want to stand out in 2024, and IKEA is taking that idea with both hands and hiring ten staff to work in its Roblox store for £13.15 an hour – that’s over the UK minimum wage of £11.44.
The jobs will be based inside the IKEA store inside Roblox, and IKEA is calling it the Co-Worker Game. It will let people “experience working in IKEA’s virtual universe.” The brand continues, “Fans will be able to live their home furnishing dreams and get paid for it, with a limited number of paid roles available.”
What will the ‘job’ entail and how much does it pay?
The furniture company is hiring ten Co-Workers to take up positions across departments, from Showroom to Bistro. You could earn £13.15 per hour to serve virtual meatballs to kids playing Roblox.
Co-workers will also have the ability to move departments and get promoted, and IKEA states that they want to hire people based on shared values rather than “simply ticking all the right boxes on a CV.”
Can you show me where the virtual Billy Bookcase is please?
In fact, the hiring process for the roles does not allow the uploading of a CV or a cover letter. Instead, there are a handful of questions (If you were a pixelated IKEA furniture, which one would you be and why?) and space to add your social media tags, and that’s it.
“We’re excited to be the first brand to launch paid work on Roblox to showcase how we do careers differently, bringing our unique careers philosophy to life,” said IKEA’s UK & Ireland People and Culture Manager, Darren Taylor. “At IKEA, there is no set route to career progression. Our co-workers are able to change roles, switch departments, and grow in any direction they choose, both in the game and in the real world. There are many ways to learn and grow at IKEA, and that’s what IKEA on Roblox is all about.”
The application phase for the job, which is open only to people 18 and over, runs until Sunday 16 June, and the game itself launches in Roblox on June 24.
Roblox, which earned nearly $3 billion in 2023, has huge plans and intends to build a ‘billion-user metaverse’ – this is one more step in that direction.